


The Four Horsemen

by Bubblepanda07



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Charlie Bradbury & Dean Winchester Friendship, Dean Sam Castiel and Crowley as the four horsemen, Destiel - Freeform, Gabriel Balthazar Anna and Charlie as their reapers, Horsemen, Humor, M/M, Romance, Sabriel - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-26
Updated: 2014-12-20
Packaged: 2018-01-10 02:03:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1153454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bubblepanda07/pseuds/Bubblepanda07
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s life as usual for the four horsemen—Dean, Sam, Castiel, and Crowley—along with their reaper companions and the rest of their little office. That is, until something disrupts the cycle and they find themselves tethered to the devil.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I got the idea for this while thinking about the horsemen, and I couldn’t hold off writing any longer!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: I tried spiffing up the first four chapters to make them...more tolerable. Bear with them, the buildup before the plot is always the toughest ;P ALSO!!! I changed some things that are important to the plot~

Before humans existed, God created four immensely powerful beings whose purpose was to spread his wrath when his creations ran rampant. These beings have been named as the four horsemen of the apocalypse; Pestilence, Famine, War, and Death. In the beginning, they were tethered to God’s control, now they are constants in the modern world since he has disappeared. Though by no doing of their own—no—they just come and claim the souls after the humans make their messes.

To humans they were known by their formal names, but to one another and their respective reapers they were known as Sam, Castiel, Crowley, and Dean. Each of the four horsemen had their own accoutrements along with a reaper companion. One item that they all shared alike was a ring, the other was their weapon of choice.

Sam was Famine and was known for his dagger. A special dagger, of course, with an inscribed, jagged blade. One would have expected Sam to be a shrunken figure due to his namesake, but he was the tallest of the horsemen and broad shouldered. He had brown hair and hazel eyes. Physically, none of the horsemen had any telling features, but each had their own tick that corresponded to their ailment. For Sam, he was constantly comparing himself to his three brothers and hungering to be remotely as powerful as they were. He felt weak in comparison to the three juggernauts.

His reaper companion was named Gabriel. Gabriel was a sandy blonde with a sweet tooth, a smart mouth, and striking amber eyes. He was neither tall nor short, but often looked sleight of height due to standing beside his horseman—whom he affectionately called moose on occasion, along with a variety of other nicknames.

Castiel was Pestilence and his weapon was a sword of pure silver that shone fiercely when hit by light. He had dark brown hair and the most incredible blue eyes that seemed to stare right through you. His vice was that he felt as if those around him crumpled wherever he went, as if he were the plague. Which as such, he was.

The reaper that assisted him was named Anna. She was a redhead who was very much her own person and wasn’t afraid to tell Castiel when he was wrong.

Representing War was Crowley, the daringest devil anyone could meet who was known for his sass, inappropriate comments, and a temper that occasionally got away from him. Crowley’s weapon was a little different in that it was an animal opposed to an object. It was a hellhound named Growley that he often referred to as a dog of war, giving an ode to Shakespeare. His notable attributes were black hair, brown eyes, and a British accent. Markedly, it was probably his ability to hold a grudge and his temper that made him well suited for War.

His reaper went by the name of Balthazar and was probably the only being on Earth that could rival his sass, which made them a perfect duo. The reaper was blonde, blue-eyed, smarmy, and moved in a smooth, relaxed manner, much like that of a cat.

The last of the horsemen was Dean, also known as Death, the most notorious of the four. His weapon was a colt, more specifically, _the_ colt. The colt was a gun that was created by Samuel Colt and could kill anything, apart from six individuals—Lucifer, the horsemen, and God. Dean had brown hair, and green eyes that could have belonged to a Disney princess. The weight that sat heavy on his shoulders was that he felt people around him died whether he willed it or not, so he had stopped making friends a lot time ago and kept to the company of his fellow horsemen and reapers.

Charlie was the name of his reaper. She was very up to date on pop culture and, if asked, her idol was Hermione from Harry Potter. She was a fiery redhead and would rise to any challenge that came up, which made her the ideal companion for Death.

For the most part, the horsemen got along remarkably well. However, if there was trouble to be had, it was with Crowley as he was the most morally ambiguous of the four. More often than not, it was Dean that had a problem with him. The perverted and scathing remarks easily got under his skin, so any chance he had to hold something over his head, he gladly took.

 

A war waged in a small country barely worth mentioning, and Crowley was idly hanging around while the body count racked up. He stood atop a small building, looking down as the people shot at one another without mercy, bullets splintering wooden surfaces and flesh alike. Humans truly were brutal creatures and it entertained him to watch them.

“So, Bobby tells us there’s a storm rolling in.” Dean said from where he and Sam appeared adjacent to Crowley on the rooftop. The horsemen and the reapers had a business to keep things orderly and Bobby was their secretary, so to speak. He always had all the information coming in, whether it were from the news on tv, to information that Ash brought in through the network. “Looks like this one’s ours.” Dean smirked, expression soon melting off his face at the withering look Sam shot him.

Crowley sighed and clapped his hands with a dry expression, “Cookie for you.” He ignored the enthusiastic ‘Cookie?’ that came from famine’s reaper.

“Like it or not, we’re in and you’re out.”

“By whose orders?”

“Cain’s. You don’t like it, you can take it up with him.”

To say that Cain was their manager wasn’t quite right, but it wasn’t exactly wrong, either. Cain was nicknamed the father of murder, when push came to shove, he guided the boys on who should get which souls. His own life had been rather tragic, being the same Cain of the story of Cain and Abel. But the humans had it wrong when they wrote that one down. Truth of the matter was, Cain gave his soul in Hell to send his brother to Heaven when Lucifer had been knocking on his door. It was by request from his dearly departed—another sad story for another time—that he began working with the horsemen to try and atone for the wrongs he had done.

Crowley hummed, not being one to argue with that. If he were honest with himself, which he rarely was, he was a bit afraid of Cain. Anyone in their right mind would be. Polite as he may be, he still carried the mark on his arm.

“Have fun, boys.” Crowley snapped his fingers and disappeared, his reaper following suit.

Dean looked out over the carnage, storm clouds dark and foreboding in the distance. A flash of lightning illuminated the start of a funnel cloud twisting down from the sky. He felt a drop of rain land on his freckled cheek, warm wind blowing across his face. There was an unmistakable charge in the air, the telltale sign of an oncoming storm. This was going to be a good one.


	2. Chapter 2

One thing that bothered Dean about the human’s interpretation of him, was that he did not, in fact, ride a pale horse. He rode in a sleek, black ‘67 Impala. That probably wouldn’t have fit too well in the bible though. He loved taking his baby out on a long stretch of highway as Zepplin sounded from the speakers. What could he say, he was a sucker for classic rock.

The average day found him in too much of a hurry to actually drive, but the morning was relatively peaceful and low on the death count, so he drove to the office. He parked between the familiar sangria-red Aston Martin and beige Cadillac. Just as Dean and Charlie were getting out, Sam and Gabriel pulled up in his blue ’70 Dodge Dart, parking on the other side of Cas’ Caddie. With license plates of ‘WAR KING’, ‘BUH BYE’, ‘BLESS U’, and ‘EAT ME’, no one could accuse them of not having a sense of humor…however morbid it may be.

“Hey Sam.”

“Morning Dean.” Sam said as he got out of his car, stretching his long legs when he was fully upright, shaking his leg to adjust the fabric that had bunched up during the drive. The city air was hot and muggy, quickly sinking through the fabric of his suit. Gabriel opened his door and shut it, leaning against the roof of the car and groaning. For a normally chipper person, he did not deal well with mornings

“Hey sunshine.” Dean said, grinning as he teased the blonde.

“Get bent, Rapunzel.” He stepped back from the car and rubbed his hands over his face.

“Let’s go, bitches. It’s like five degrees and Ash texted me and said he brought donuts,” Charlie chimed.

“Ohh.” Gabriel perked up. “Last one there’s an angry panda!”

 

The quartet walked into the building, the glass doors sealing shut behind them, the air conditioned building a welcomed change in climate. Dean raised his hand in greeting to Bobby, who sat at his desk in the reception area.

“Idgits.” He mumbled in recognition.

Ash leaned out around a door frame when he heard them come in. “We got donuts, compadres!”

Walking in, Dean spotted Crowley, Balthazar, and Castiel sitting at the table, Anna standing at the counter—stirring her coffee. Crowley and Balthazar cradled their lattes bought from the expensive coffee place around the corner, too picky to drink the stuff made at the office.

Dean spotted the box of assorted donuts and grabbed one, picking up a napkin in his other hand. He took a big bite of the jelly-filled donut and a large gob of the filling fell on his pristine white shirt under his black suit jacket. Everyone else was too preoccupied to notice, except for Sam who was smiling into his drink.

“ _Man._ ” He snapped his fingers and cleaned the offending stain away. Looking up at Sam, still chewing a large mouthful of donut—right cheek bulging out like a squirrels—he pointed and said, “You didn’t see shit!”

“Hey, your five year old table manners are safe with me.” Sam put his hands up in a placating gesture. He took another sip of his drink, some green concoction that probably tasted like grass. ‘ _No wonder he’s always so hungry. Dude needs a burger or something’_ , Dean thought to himself, not for the first time that century.

“His table manners aren’t a secret from anyone.”

“Cram it in your cakehole, Crowley.”

“Says the squirrel.”

Dean sat down next to Castiel and they acknowledged each other with their usual staring that always lasted a shade too long. Crowley rolled his eyes as he took a bite of his cream-cheese covered bagel. The fools had been making cow eyes at each other for millennia and had yet to profess their feelings for each other. If only everyone could be like he and Balthazar had been. A simple ‘I like you, you like me, let’s do lunch and the horizontal tango’. But instead the pair was too busy pining and making everyone uncomfortable with their eye-banging.

Dean broke eye contact when he felt something near his foot. He looked down as a string of drool fell out of the air and onto his slick, shiny shoe. ‘ _Freakin’ dog._ ’, he thought to himself. He had tried convincing Cain to make Crowley’s dog sit outside, but leaving a horseman’s ‘weapon’ unguarded didn’t sit well with him. He toed the air to push the invisible dog away from him and it made a deep, throaty noise as it was being slid across the tiles.

Crowley decided it was time to go to his office when Gabriel took a bite of a donut and made a sound bordering on inappropriate. He stood up and flipped his chair back around and pushed it in to the table, the sounds of paws pattering on the floor following him as he left.

“Did you see the new episode of Sherlock last night?!” Charlie chirped to Anna.

“Of course! I can’t believe how it ended.”

Almost every morning the two redheads would unite on the geek front and gossip together. Dean asked her once why she never asked Anna out, and she called him a hypocrite. He had no idea what she meant by that.

“Man, we got some kind of weird shit going on.” Ash said, making a face at his laptop that he carried into the break room with him.

“Sure it’s not your system?” Charlie asked him.

“Lady, you know there’s never anything wrong with my stuff. But look at this.”

Charlie walked over along with everyone else, Sam standing at the back and looking over everyone’s heads.

“What are we looking at?”

“Okay, here we have this little town of people. Well, yesterday they were perfectly fine. No signs of the big four. Overnight something must have hit them because they went from nada to full blown quarantine. We have Pestilence and Death marked all over. Which okay, some super bug just tore through there, right? No big deal. But about ten minutes ago-“ Ash hit a button and the map changed, void of any marks. “-completely clear. Like the people just up and disappeared.”

“What do you mean, disappeared? People don’t just disappear, Ash.” Dean said, putting his hands on his hips and gesturing with one hand.

“We actually have one other case of this happening. You remember the lost colony business that happened in Roanoke?”

“Yeah uh-“ Sam snapped his fingers as he trudged up the memory, “the colony that just vanished, only leaving behind the word Croatoan.”

The word left a cold chill in the room, prickling uneasily beneath their skin. The Croatoan virus was big time. Whatever this was couldn’t be good.

“Did you tell Cain yet?”

“I just patched it through to him. I really don’t like the way this is lookin.”

Dean had an uneasy feeling in his gut that something big, and something nasty, was coming. There were very few things that could make Death feel that way, and Dean wasn’t looking forward to any of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to do research on cars for this chapter. Also, the car that Sam is driving—as far as I could tell—is the same one he drove in 9x12.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, lovelies~ :3

Dean and Cas sat on a wooden bench across from a hospital where a particularly vile case of the flu had broken out, waiting while Charlie and Anna helped those inflicted pass over to the other side.

“So what do you think we should do?” Dean asked Cas.

“You heard what Cain said, and you know what our policy is.” He said, sighing heavily.

“Yeah yeah, I know. We can’t interfere with anything on earth unless it’s interfering with us first.” That had been the horsemen’s policy since they had been created. If they started messing with things, then it would disrupt the balance. “But what if something does and it’s worse than we think?”

The corner of Cas’ mouth quirked up slightly. “Are you asking me for my advice? Because you and I both know you won’t actually take it.” He slid his blue eyes over to the other horseman.

“Hey, I-“ Dean started, trailing off and rubbing his neck, a blush creeping up his freckled cheeks when Cas’ look became skeptical. “Okay, so I usually do what I want to do anyways, but it doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate your input.”

Dean had always followed the rules well enough, being the most powerful of the horsemen, he had a responsibility after all. Though he had also been the only one to go against orders, albeit only once. That was the first time he had truly been afraid of Cain. He wasn’t sure if even he could take him on, what with the Mark. Anything with even a modicum of supernatural awareness could sense the powerhouse behind it. So Dean tried not to step outside the lines, lest he felt like being turned inside out. He liked his insides where they belonged, thank you very much.

“-and I can see how much you value my opinion, as I’m sure you’ve been listening this whole time.” Cas said, amusement tinting his tone.

“Huh?” Had he been talking while he had been caught in his reverie? “Shit, I’m sorry Cas. What were you saying?”

“ _I said_ I think it’s probably best that we don’t look for trouble for now, and wait to see what happens. It could very well just be a demon running rampant.”

Dean perked up as Charlie exited the hospital. She was moving at a hurried pace and looked distraught.

“Everything alright?”

“No, no it isn’t. I was in there trying to help someone move on and a demon jacked their body. Not long after that I got a message from Anna saying the same thing happened to her. It’s like they’re popping up everywhere. This is _so_ not cool!” She said, gesturing wildly and slightly out of breath.

Anna popped up next to them, face pinched in a grim expression. “We got what we could, but the rest have been possessed.”

“What the hell?” Dean pondered aloud.

“Precisely.”

They all turned to see Crowley walking up to them, hands in his pockets.

“Pardon?”

“Hell. More specifically, Bael.”

“ _Bael_? As in the demon?”

“Lucifer’s right hand, his most loyal, yada yada. Problem is, we don’t know why he’s showing up now all of a sudden, though I’m sure it’s not for a moonlit stroll on the beach.”

“What we _do_ know is that he’s amassing a horde of demons.” Balthazar spoke up from where he stood, ever present at his horseman’s side.

“Well, aint that just peachy.” Dean grouched.

The demons started exiting the hospitals and one of them spotted Dean, fear flashing across his face. Dean smirked, raised his hand and waggled his fingers in a wave, watching the demon scramble away down the sidewalk. More demons spotted them after that and Crowley blew one of them a kiss, grinning wickedly when they reeled back in shock. Messing with demons was one of Crowley’s hobbies. Balthazar once told him it was probably because he would have made such a good one himself. Crowley had to agree that if he didn’t have a soul, that would probably be true. Maybe in another life he would have been.

 

It was barely a day later that Dean got the first hint of the size of what they were dealing with. He was going about his usual business, picking his way through a plane crash site.

“I knew I shouldn’t have got on that plane! I’ve always been terrified of them.” The ghost of a middle-aged man in front of them said. Atop his head sat a toupee that had gone askew and now clung onto his scalp for dear life.

“Actually, they rarely crash.” Charlie gave him a look that told him very clearly that he was _not_ helping. He coughed awkwardly. This was why he usually left this part up to her. He wasn’t good with dealing with people’s feelings. “I’ll uh, be over here.” Dean motioned over to his right.

He was poking around the wreckage when he felt it. He didn’t always feel every death when it happened, human souls usually didn’t register unless they were in mass. He would pick up on supernatural creatures when they passed sometimes, the slick pull of their energies leaving their bodies would pass over him as they died. But this-this thing, whatever it was, burst and prickled at his senses, like a lighthouse beacon on a foggy night it called out to him. Dean called out to Charlie, telling her that he was going to go check it out.

Teleporting to where the sensation was, he was greeted with a massive bright orb of celestial light, blue tendrils engulfed in a golden glow. With a bright pulse, the thing disappeared, wiped out of existence. Once it departed, he spotted a body on the ground and felt his heart stutter. Of all the things he expected, this didn’t even register as a possibility. Stretched out on either side of the body was the shape of wings, burnt into the pavement. The word ‘ _angel_ ’ flitted through his mind, repeating itself like an echo. He dropped down on a knee next to the body, fingers tracing the pattern burnt into the pavement, still in disbelief. Demons were one thing, but angels walking the earth was something else entirely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn’t help but put the bit about Crowley being a demon in another life. ;P


	4. Chapter 4

“Charlie,” Dean sighed, grabbing Charlie’s wrist and pulling her hand away from his forehead, “I’m Death, I don’t get sick. Well, apart from that time I pissed off Cas.”

 _That_ had been an experience. It was just a simple argument, really. Granted it was one that had started with the common cold, and had escalated to…the black plague. Cas had been very sorry about the whole ordeal, and Dean promised to never talk bad about himself around him again.

“Yeah, but angels, Dean? I mean come on. We _are_ talking about the same beings, right? Lights with flappy wings and halos?”

“Do you know of any other angels?”

“Charlie’s angels?”

“I’m pretty sure that wasn’t Farrah Fawcett I saw out there.”

Charlie took in a breath and exhaled, shoulders sagging and arms hanging limply.

“I guess we should tell Cain.”

“Not that we’re going to do anything about it.”

“Still, we have to keep him updated.” Charlie reeled back as a tractor trailer crashed into a car, overturning and causing a pileup, the sound of metal crunching on metal sounding in the air. Looking across the intersection, she waved in greeting at one of the fates standing on the other side. In a second, the blonde woman with glasses was standing next to them, her clipboard clasped tightly in her hands.

“Charlie, Dean.” She said, nodding her head slightly at each of them.

“How goes things?”

“Business as usual.” She answered curtly.

“Nothing particularly strange?” Charlie asked, attempting to be sly but failing miserably. Subtlety was not her style. There were probably air horns that could do a better job.

The fate cocked her head and smirked, “You know I can’t tell you anything. Though I’m assuming you’re asking because of the new visitors we’ve had on our planet recently?” She rocked back on her heels, “But no, no spoilers. Nice try though, Charlie.” With that, the fate vanished.

“At least she’s nicer than her sisters.” The other fates probably would have broken out their best disappointed mom face had Charlie asked them that question.

Dean looked at Charlie’s tablet with a raised eyebrow as it gave a series of melodic beeps. Startling slightly, the reaper tapped something out and a window popped up to reveal Ash’s face.

“Yooo, we got a problem.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Dean said over Charlie’s shoulder.

“Need you to come in, having a meeting in the grand puba’s office.”

“Sure thing. Charlie needs to clean things up here first though.”

“No problem. Peace.”

Closing the window on her tablet, Charlie started towards the crash and the ghosts already mulling around. “I’ll try and hurry.”

Dean smiled tightly and waved before popping into Cain’s office.

 

He noticed two things when he arrived. One: the plant in the corner looked like it was dying, Two: Crowley looked like he was about to flip out.

“Ash said there was a problem?”

Cain’s face was tight and he gave a nod in Crowley’s direction, signaling him to speak.

“You know how demons were going for a joy ride with the humans the other day? They weren’t the only ones, now we have angels taking an extended vacation down here too.”

“I already figured that out, I ran into one earlier.”

“No, I don’t think you have any idea. They’re at bloody war with each other!” The horseman shouted, infamous temper making a guest appearance. There were already three instances just that day where the oversized folds of light had been having a go. If it weren’t for the human souls of their vessels, Crowley would have avoided them altogether since angels didn’t appear to require a reaper to crossover. They even made his poor dog uneasy, who chose to hide and growl at the lights from behind him.

“Wait.” Sam said, scooting up on the edge of his seat, “They’re fighting demons, or other angels?”

“Both.” Balthazar said, pinching the bridge of his nose. Gabriel let out a low whistle, marveling at the gravity of that remark.

As everyone conversed on what it could mean, Dean felt his consciousness being drawn elsewhere, their voices becoming muffled noises in the background. As he could feel death, he could also feel life, ultimately every soul tied to him in the end. He felt souls entering the plane of the living, which were normally bright sensations, but these were twisted portrayals of what souls should be. They were dark with rough, frayed edges, angry and vengeful. The decayed souls wanted for nothing but to punish humans that had let them down. They were, Dean realized, souls of those that already moved on but had been forced back to inhabit earth. Even more concerting, underlying that was the feeling of something ancient and unworldly shattering apart.

Dean’s attention was pulled back to the office that now seemed much too small and quiet. The other horsemen looked stricken, reapers concerned why they had suddenly stilled.

“What’s wrong?” Anna asked.

“One of the seals has been broken.” Cas said, blue eyes wide with surprise.

“Seals? To what?”

“Lucifer’s cage.” Sam said, tongue sticking dryly to the roof of his mouth, fingers threading nervously through his hair.

They all stood there in silence, unsure of what was happening.

Unfortunately, this was the time that Charlie arrived.

“Hey guys! So what’d I miss?” She said, smile immediately falling when she grasped what she had walked into. Clearing her throat awkwardly, she trudged on, “That bad?”

“Nah, just the freakin’ apocalypse.” Dean said.

“This is a joke, right? Charlie’s late because some guy at the wreck was code blue and couldn’t make up his mind, so we make up a big story…right?” The looks on everyone’s faces told her that no, they were not, in fact, joking. “I need to sit down.”

 

Dean leaned back in his chair, pressing his fingers against his right temple.

“Now we know why everything is coming out of the woodwork. The demons want to free daddy evil and the angels want to stop them.”

“But what I don’t get is why some of the angels are fighting each other.” Sam said, gnawing on his lip nervously. He thought he felt Gabriel stiffen from where he sat on the arm of the chair, but brushed it off.

“It doesn’t matter.” Cain plopped his feet up leisurely up on his desk.

“What do you mean it doesn’t matter?” Dean said, standing up. “The devil is about to be sprung from his trap and you don’t think this is important enough for us to get involved? That the humans don’t matter? Any other time I’m all for standing on the sidelines, everything has it’s time to die, but I’m not too freakin’ keen on watching them all get wiped out.”

“ _Dean._ ” Castiel warned from beside him.

“No, I’m sorry but I can’t just roll over and be happy on this one.”

“I understand, more than you know about how much this needs to be stopped, but-“

“More than I know? What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”

“Until we fully understand what’s going on, you are to stand down.” There was a bite behind Cain’s normally calm tone, warning Dean and the others to listen.

Dean sucked on his teeth before pointing his finger at Cain, green eyes steely, “Alright, but as soon as one of those sons a bitches steps into our territory, I’m in the fight.”

“I would be more surprised if you didn’t.” He picked up his teacup-a rather dainty looking thing for the supposed father of murder- and took a drink out of it, not at all phased by Dean’s heated declaration.

With a huff, Dean walked out of the office, leaving the others behind. Cas sighed and rolled his eyes up at the ceiling. There were times when Dean was a wondrous thing to behold, and then there were times when he let his temper get the better of him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna pretend I didn't go through a writer's crisis >_>; (though I have been writing a bit between the last update...just not on this :x)  
> So! I went back and tried revising the first four chapters because I wasn't really happy with them and wanted them to at least be tolerable. Also, changed some things important to plot and added a bit to chapter four. Should get easier and, hopefully, more enjoyable from here on out!  
> Anyways! Missed you lovelies, hope you enjoy reading!

One by one, the ancient seals on the cage fell away. Five seals. Ten seals. As each seal crumbled into dust, the cage’s hold became increasingly frail.

The horsemen did what they always have, people didn’t stop dying or being sick, but they did it with tense shoulders and anxiety pooled in their stomachs. No matter how much more powerful the angels were, there were 534 different possible seals to break, and as of three o’clock that morning, there was only a single seal remaining. It was only a matter of time before the last seal broke, and all they could do was wait, time seeming to slog by at a painfully slow pace.

The hours crept by until the sun sank below the horizon, and still, they waited. Dean dispatched reapers while he sat in his office, staring at the cup held between his hands, eyes unfocused. His office was silent but for the clock on his wall, all he could hear was the rhythmic tick...tock…tick…tock-the heartbeat of time mocking him. It was then that he felt it, the last lock shattering apart. In what seemed like a long wait between one tick and the next-an inhale of breath later-he felt Lucifer’s power rippling up from the earth, a cold star whiting out the dark night sky.

It wasn’t a question of _if_ Lucifer would bind the horsemen to himself, but rather, _when_. He and the others had tried planning a course of action, and it came to Dean’s attention that more than likely he would be the first horseman to be bound. This, naturally, pissed him off. More worrisome was that, even now, Lucifer was starting to mask himself and the beacon that he had been was now bleeding into the rest of the souls. Was that pinprick of light Lucifer, or Mary who lived down the street and liked playing Bingo at senior night? That threw a slight kink in any plans of trying to find him once he bound one of them.

Charlie popped into his office, tablet clutched close as she steadied her shoulders in a show of preparation.

“Now what do we do?”

“Now,” Dean said as he stood up, “I go get a slice of pie before Satan decides to put me on a leash.”

“…you seem awfully calm about this.”

“Well, it’s gonna happen one way or the other, I might as well get my kicks in beforehand. Besides, I have full faith in you guys.” He slipped his black suit jacket on and smoothed his tie down. Dean was confident that the others would be able to find Lucifer and put him back in the hole and, with any luck, maybe he would get a hit or two in before they did. That would be it, wam bam thank you ma’am, apocalypse avoided and then they would go back to doing what they do.

However, as they say, even the best laid plans go to waste.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter but it needed to be done for pacing purposes~


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One word: Surprise~

Sam and Gabriel were standing on a stretch of sidewalk in front of a store window, watching the news on a television about a ‘mysterious light’ that had appeared the night before. People walked past them, completely oblivious to their presence. The city was alive and thriving around them, chatter and the sounds of traffic filling the air of the warm spring night. Even with the strange happenings on the news, they all continued on with their lives; bills still needed to be paid and social lives catered to.

By Gabriel’s side, Sam made a choked off noise of surprise, raising his hands up in disbelief. Hazel eyes were wide and focused on a gold metallic thread that wrapped around his wrists and connected in the center. This didn’t make any sense. Why had he been the first horseman to be bound?

Gabriel grabbed onto Sam’s arm, amber eyes full of worry and edged with panic.

“Sam, you’re going to be okay, it’s going to be okay.” He said, voice firm as he tried to reassure him. Sam opened his mouth to respond, but was summoned before he could speak, disappearing right in front of Gabriel. The reaper cursed to his self and teleported to Cain’s office.

 

Sam took in the new location, eyes sweeping over his surroundings. The room was dark, save for the glow of a neon sign filtering in through a window, casting everything in shades of blue. The walls were decorated in old, patterned wallpaper that had begun peeling away at the edges, water-stains evident in a few places. It smelt musty, reminding Sam of the scent of old books. A blond haired man stood before him, leaning back against the windowsill, arms crossed loosely over his chest.

“Lucifer.” Who else could it be? Sam swallowed nervously, perspiration building on his skin despite the cool temperature of the room.

“So you truly have become a horseman.” He said, tilting his head as his cool blue eyes observed Sam. “I had heard rumors but…well, you’ll pardon my surprise.” His voice was soft and deceptively gentle.

“What are you talking about?” Sam’s eyebrows pinched together in confusion. He had always been a horseman.

Lucifer went still, looking much like a statue poised in front of him. “You don’t remember me.” He dropped his eyes to the floor before looking back up, pushing off the window and took a few steps forward, boots clunking on the wooden floor. “We’ve been here before Sam.”

The words sent a chill up Sam’s spine. “You’re lying.” He had to be, Lucifer had been in the cage since he had fallen.

“I told you, I would never lie to you.” Sam took a step back as he kept moving closer, causing Lucifer to pause and hold up his hands, trying to look non-threatening. “This isn’t the first time I’ve been out of the cage.”

He began walking again, commanding Sam to stop when he started backing away, effectively rooting him in place.

“It’s important that you remember.” He reached up, placing two fingers lightly to Sam’s temple.

Images flashed through his head in rapid succession. Growing up with Dean, a life on the road, people that he had grown to know as family- _Bobby, Ellen, Jo-_ and how they had eventually been wiped from his life. Feeling different his whole life, outcast. Seeing himself letting Lucifer out of his cage, Michael, Gabriel, and the apocalypse that wasn’t.

That was all Lucifer supplied, but a wall broke down somewhere in his head and the memories flooded in; Leviathans, tablets, Metatron, an angel war, the first blade, his brother turning into a demon, everything until the very end when he died. But it was passed that point where everything went blank. How had they ended up here? His breath shuddered out of him and he sank to his knees.

 

Gabriel arrived at the office, not prepared to see Dean and the others already gathered there. He caught the tail-end of a conversation, “I don’t know, it’s been about three minutes but there’s been nothing. Not a peep.”

“Sam’s been bound.” He announced, deeming that more important than the current conversation.

“What?” Dean turned on his heel to look at him, taken aback.

“I said-“

“No, I heard you. But how the hell…” Dean held up his arms, a gold thread flashing in the air when he pushed his will against the mental bonds. Somehow, Lucifer had managed to bind them both at the same time. They hadn’t counted on this at all, any plans they had were slowly folding in on themselves. “I also don’t get why he chose Sam. I would have put my bet on War or Pestilence.”

“I wouldn’t have.” Balthazar said, sighing sitting back on the arm of Crowley’s chair.

“ _Balthazar._ ” Cas said, admonishing him, jaw set firmly and eyes intense.

“Oh come now, Cassie, just how long do you think we’ll be able to keep them in the dark? With brother dearest out, we both know it’s only a matter of time before the cat’s out of the bag.”

“What the bloody hell are you going on about?” Crowley looked up at his reaper. He was usually on top of things, but now he was aware that he had missed something right under his nose, and he wasn’t particularly pleased about that.

“It doesn’t ma- _look,_ Lucifer didn’t just bind Sam, he summoned him.” Gabriel said, growing impatient the longer Sam was away.

“I kind of got that, but we can’t exactly do anything about that.” Dean said.

“Maybe you can’t, but I sure as hell can. I have to try, anyways.” With that, Gabriel popped out, wanting to get to Sam and help him. Hopefully this encounter with his brother would go better than the last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping this was a surprise to you all! There was one little clue in the last chapter concerning the number of seals, but other than that I wanted you guys to be as in the dark as the boys. =P Though I hope it wasn't TOO confusing. Next chapter we get a better grasp on what exactly is going on~   
> Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

Sam fell down to his knees, shaking fingers threading through his hair as he tried to steady his breathing. Lucifer calmly stood before him, looking down. The archangel’s head jerked up when Gabriel arrived, mouth falling open and eyes widening in surprise.

“Sam!” Gabriel said, moving at a hurried clip to Sam’s side and crouching down next to him.

“Gabriel…you’re alive.” Lucifer said, staring at the brother he thought dead, murdered with his own hands.

“Yeah, long time no see.” He acknowledged him absentmindedly before turning back to Sam. “What’s wrong Sam? Come on, talk to me here.”

“Is it true?” Sam gripped the sleeve of Gabriel’s suit jacket, the fabric bunching under his fingers.

“Is what true?” His gaze flickered to Lucifer and he swiped his tongue along his bottom lip in a nervous gesture.

“That Dean and I were brothers and used to be humans. It is, isn’t it?”

“ _Shit._ ” Gabriel swore before rubbing a hand over his face and exhaling with a huff. Standing up, he faced Lucifer, lightly dusting off his pants before speaking again.

“What, your ego couldn’t handle him not remembering you?” The temperature seemed to drop a few degrees in the small room.

“This has nothing to do with my ego, brother. I needed him-need them all-to remember. Lies will only get in the way.”

“In the way of what, apocalypse round two?”

“Assuming that is still an interest of mine, there are much worse things to worry about.”

“Worse for who, exactly?” Sam asked, now standing behind Gabriel. The shock of having his past dredged to the surface settling down.

“Everyone.”

Sam and Gabriel looked at each other, a silent conversation passing between them.

“You’ve got five minutes to convince me to lead you back to the others.” Their headquarters was heavily warded from the perception of angels and demons alike. The protection was more so to prevent interference from the outside, than it was to protect anyone. Gabriel was certain Lucifer could command Sam and use him to lead him there, but he hoped his brother would humor him. Cooperation, after-all, would work in his favor. Though what bothered Gabriel…was what was so bad to put Lucifer on edge?

It took less than a minute and a name drop to convince Gabriel that, for the first time since his brother took the big tumble down south, they needed to work together.

 

Dean has always had trouble when it comes to keeping his mouth shut. As it turns out, a fast way to get him to be quiet was to drop the devil down in front of him.

Cain spotted him and slowly stood up, his hands planted firmly on his desk, the mark giving off a faint shimmer from beneath the sleeve of his white henley.

“Would you boys like to explain why Lucifer is standing in my office?” Gabriel was really impressed by the man’s patience. He also wasn’t about to test it either.

“Uh, look, it’s like this-“

“Amy.” Lucifer said, interrupting him. Dancing around a topic wasn’t really his style.

Cain’s stern stare stayed level on Lucifer’s cold one for a moment longer before turning back to the others.

“As long as he’s here, I’ll be out.”

“Out? Out whe-hey!” Dean shouted as Cain disappeared from the office. One word was all it took to send Cain away and leave them in the hands of Satan. Furthermore-

“ _Amy?_ Who the hell is Amy?!”

“I’ll explain that in a moment, but first, there’s another matter to tend to.” Lucifer walked to stand in front of Cain’s desk and held his hands out, a golden light filling the room. The light wrapped around them, illuminating the dark corners of their minds and dredging up forgotten memories before receding back under the skin of Lucifer’s vessel.

Dean leaned back against the arm of a chair, letting it take his weight. He tried to logic his way through things, determined to prove that these memories were planted, but he couldn’t figure out what Lucifer would gain from it.

“Someone mind telling me what’s going on?”

“You’re a Winchester, Harry.” Gabriel said, garnering him one of Sam’s infamous bitchfaces. Bless, even when his memories had been walled off he never lost that particular expression.

“Hold on, you’re telling me you knew about this? Nevermind, of course _you_ knew about this.”

“We all did.” Cas said.

“You-am I the only one here that got mind whammied?”

“You, your brother, and Crowley.”

“Oh good, I’m on the same level as pomp and circumstance over there.” He said, gesturing with agitation at the man bent over in the chair over by the corner. He heard a mumbled ‘I was a demon, a bloody demon’.

Throughout their exchange, Lucifer silently observed them, slightly amused.

“So how the hell did all of this happen?”

 

When all was said and done, Sam and Dean passed just as every other human would. Their fragile mortal lives ran their course. Without the world being in peril, they were able to be guided by their reapers and pass on.

In heaven, they finally found solace in all the tight hugs and greetings of those they had loved whom had passed on much too soon. Even Cas joined them, as he stuck by their side in life, he would also do so in death. Now, they could rest. That had been the plan, at least. A few decades passed, and they were happy. But, unbeknownst to them, they had one more task to perform. 

Dean, Sam, and Cas-with the addition of Crowley-found themselves pulled into a quiet, dimly lit room, none other than Death standing before them. He had four rings held in his outstretched hand.

"While I think you boys deserve rest, it seems I have somewhere else to be. I would appreciate it if you four would hold onto these, as I can’t find it in myself to trust anyone else.”

Reasoning amongst themselves, they decided it was better this way. If they didn’t take the positions, it would leave them open to other hands. By taking the rings, they could ensure that the powers wouldn’t be abused.

To help them, Balthazar, Charlie, Anna, and Gabriel volunteered to be their reapers. At the time, Gabriel had made an off-hand comment to Balthazar about him being whipped, to which he replied he was doing the same thing. The archangel had simply smirked and shrugged at him.

Anna had gone with Cas because she held a more neutral position concerning him than the majority of the other angels that either revered or shunned him.

Lastly, Charlie who-while the easy thing to do would have been to stay put- decided to shirk her nagging fear and jump in with both feet. This was her time to be one of the heroines that she admired so much.

And the extra added punch that their weapons had…was a gift from god, in the most literal sense. The father of all had popped into the picture, raised a few angels, touched their junk, and disappeared back off the map. This was, presumably, where the former Death had gone.

For them to be able to do their jobs properly without feeling guilty for being who they were, it was imperative that they didn’t remember who they were. Their memories were closed off, and the memories of the prior horsemen were inserted. The inserted memories were woven with bits of their personality to make it more believable. This had worked for a little over two centuries.

 

Sam, Dean and Crowley listened to Cas as he told the story, occasionally interrupted by remarks from Balthazar and Gabriel. Dean wanted to be angry, but how could he be when he had agreed to it? He did have one more question left unanswered though.

Turning back to the big arch-elephant in the room, who had stood there patiently while they sorted themselves out, he repeated his question from earlier.

“Who the hell is Amy?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesus crumpets this chapter was hard to get through. But I did it, and now there's only forward! As always, thank you for reading, lovelies~


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovelies! New chapter, brought to you by the slowest updater in the world~ *nervous laughter*

“Amy is an abomination.” Lucifer said, disgust clear on his face.  


“Yeah, you’re going to have to be a little more specific there considering that’s also what you call humans.”  


Lucifer sneered, “For all that humans destroy the earth, it’s only a fraction of what Amy would do.”  


“I’m gonna go out on a limb here and guess that doesn’t involve rainbows and sunshine. What exactly is on the line here if Susie Sunshine is left to her own devices?”  


“In short? She takes over hell, demons walk the earth…and all that other jazzy stuff that happens during an apocalypse. Including but not limited to lots and lots of fire and brimstone.” Gabriel spoke up from where he leaned against a bookcase. “And if you think demons are bad when he’s in charge,” he said, gesturing to Lucifer. “It doesn’t hold a candle to her.”  


“Yeah, cause demons are so great right now.”  


“Demons are never going to be good, because that was never their purpose. But they can be controlled.”  


“And that’s what you do? How is your control any better than hers?”  


“I am their maker.”  


“Right, so they look at you with wide eyed adoration and sit at your heels.”  


“In part, but there’s a bigger reason they obey me.”  


“What would that be?”  


“They fear me.” He said with a smile, crossing his arms. Crowley’s hellhound whimpered and cowered behind the armchair.  


“…fair enough.” Dean had to admit, dude was definitely creepy. Which was probably because he was the devil, but hey, details. “I guess we’re team Satan now.” Dean said, the words leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. He felt like a kid in a dodgeball game trying to choose between the kid that always threw the balls way too hard and the one that would rather use their fists.  


Lucifer tilted his head, pressing his pointer finger to his lips, cold blue eyes dancing, “You say that as if you ever had a choice.”  


Dean dropped his eyes to his wrists, giving a mental push only to be greeted with a flare of light from the shackles before they faded back into nothingness.  


Then something occurred to Dean.  


“Wait a minute. I know things are a little different than before, but how did you manage to bind all four of us at once?”  


“I didn’t. I bound you and Sam, my second in command bound Castiel and Crowley.”  


Sam snorted, “You let a demon bind two horsemen?”  


“Demon is such a strong word, really.” All pairs of eyes turned to the man that had just appeared in the corner of the room behind them. The collar of his dress shirt was unbuttoned-as were the next two buttons after that. The white shirt was worn under a matching blazer, the bright material contrasted against his tan skin, the tails of the shirt tucked into black slacks. He gave a respectful bow of his head towards Lucifer. Dean had a feeling-looking at the designer sunglasses pushed up into his black hair-that they weren’t going to get along too well.  


“And what would you prefer? Tortured soul of the damned?”  


“That would be assuming I ever had a soul in the first place.” He said with a sly grin, a teasing glint in his pale blue eyes as he strolled over to stand by Lucifer’s side.  


“Soulless in Seattle?”  


He paused from where he was removing a folder out from under his arm and barked out a laugh. “Oh I like this one, he’s got bite.”  


“Now that you’re here, I believe introductions are in order.” Lucifer recited each of their names from left to right, leaving Gabriel for last.  


The man gave him a look of consideration, “I thought you’d be taller.”  


Dean took it back, he might like the guy after all. Anyone that made jabs at Gabriel couldn’t be too bad in his books.  


“Yeah, well excuse me, I was absent the day they were giving out the freakishly tall vessels!”  


“…everyone, this is Bael, one of seven archdemons.” Lucifer added, finishing introductions. Sam couldn’t tell if it was exasperation or amusement in his voice.  


As Death, Dean kept out of the affairs of demons, but even with his human memories restored he didn’t recall ever so much as hearing about archdemons. And he had gotten pretty up close and personal with demons; a little too up close.  


“Excuse me, a what?” He said, thinking maybe he had heard incorrectly.  


Crowley sighed heavily and ran a hand over his eyes. “Archdemon is an informal title, you would know them more formally as princes. Before you ask, no, they don’t have anything to do with the king.”  


Bael flipped through the folder in his hand, resting back against the desk while skimming over the pages before passing it over to Lucifer.  


As he inspected the pages, an uncomfortable silence fell over the room. The horsemen and reapers awkwardly looked about, avoiding looking at Lucifer.  


“You know,” several of them jumped, startled from the break in the tense atmosphere, “You may go for now if you wish.” Lucifer said without looking up from reading. There was barely a second’s hesitation before they started calmly scrambling from the office.  


“I look forward to working with you.” Bael called after them as they retreated, the corner of his lips twitching as he fought down a smile.  


Lucifer waved his hand and the large double doors shut behind them with an audible click. 

They all made their way to the lobby, standing there somewhat bewildered. It had been an eventful day by horsemen’s standards.  


“Sooo…that was the devil, huh?” Charlie said, rocking onto the balls of her feet. “He didn’t seem so bad. I mean, all things considered.”  
Seven pairs of eyes turned to stare at her.  


“Um, oh look! Water! I’m so thirsty.” She laughed nervously and coughed, briskly heading to the water cooler at the end of the hall.  


Dean shook his head before turning to Sam. “Can we talk for a minute?”  


“Yeah sure.” He said with a nod. 

Once in Dean’s office, Dean absently scratched the back of his head. “Look, I know I’m not exactly the best at the whole emotions thing, but how are you handling all this? The memories, I mean.”  


Sam considered the question for a moment. How did he feel? He hadn’t had the time to just stop and think since the whole mess started.  


“Actually, I feel good.” He shrugged loosely, “I mean maybe that sounds bad because maybe I should feel like crap considering everything we went through, but look at where we wound up in the end.”  


Dean let out a sigh of relief. “Dude, I’m so glad I’m not the only one. I feel like we did good.”  


Sam smiled and nodded, “We really did. And here we are, trying to save the world again.”  


“Looks like we’re back into the family business.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally got around to introducing Bael. He's kind of my baby so be gentle~ For those of you wondering what he looks like: http://snakesandmistletoe.tumblr.com/post/105707555235/im-just-gonna-places-pic-gently-i-bring-you  
> All of the princes look pretty attractive to me in my head because they're vain bastards and like to have the best of everything, including vessels ;P One of the 'princes' is also a woman :> But I'll get into the rest of them later :x  
> As always, thanks for reading dearlings!

**Author's Note:**

> Based on my tumblr post here: http://snakesandmischief.tumblr.com/post/73960499269/snakesandmischief-i-should-write-a-fanfic-where#notes  
> I hope you enjoy exploring this ‘verse with me as much as I do writing it!


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